As the new president for the Beaverton Optimist Club, I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a new tradition for the club: “The State of the Club Address.”

We will take a quick back but primarily focus on the present and future club. There will be plenty of time for our members to give their input and suggestions.

Like most service clubs, we face some challenges but, as an Optimist, I believe we can meet the challenges as we face a brighter future. I encourage all of our members to be present for this important meeting:

Our “Business of the Month” is Habitat for Humanity. Mark Forker is the Executive Director and also Leon Taylor, the comptroller. They spoke at our breakfast this morning. These folks are doing a great job helping people get into affordable housing who need a hand up. The one thing I learned is that they don’t give away homes. The new homeowners put in at least 500 hours helping to build the house and also pay off a mortgage through Habitat. Read more at our website: http://beavertonoptimist.webs.com/business-of-the-month.